Pride and Prejudice
How does Jane Austen introduce Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to the reader in the opening scenes?
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813 is a novel that is acknowledged as a masterpiece. The opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice is famously ironic, “it is universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, this sentence is completely against Jane Austen’s characteristics; it states an opinion like it was fact; it’s a stereotype and an exaggeration, and is ironic as Jane Austen was known to be a rationalist. The novel itself was fashionable but not respected, as a woman wrote it. Jane Austen’s main characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, both of which are very similar and fail to realise this, they are proud, ironic and judgmental, a perfect match? Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are introduced to the reader in the first few chapters, their introduction and their opinions towards each other are very particular, in this essay I am analysing how Jane Austen introduces the reader to Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in the opening scenes. Elizabeth is one of five Bennet sisters unlike many main characters Elizabeth isn’t the prettiest, but she is witty and intelligent: the result is that the reader doesn’t expect Elizabeth to be the novels heroine, as is doesn’t possess the Disney fairytale qualities. Mr. Darcy is first portrayed through indirect speech as a handsome and rich gentleman who is destined to marry, that is until the reader meets Mr. Darcy, the reader is deceived into thinking Mr. Darcy is a pompous rich over-proud gentlemen, as they mold prejudice opinions towards him. The 18th century and today’s era vary in similarity as women and men still marry and some women are deemed as housewives. Jane Austen’s has radical ideas for both time elapses; as it is portrayed that women are normally in need of rescue from a handsome prince, but in Austen’s novel Elizabeth Bennet isn’t like that,
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, published in 1813 is a novel that is acknowledged as a masterpiece. The opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice is famously ironic, “it is universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”, this sentence is completely against Jane Austen’s characteristics; it states an opinion like it was fact; it’s a stereotype and an exaggeration, and is ironic as Jane Austen was known to be a rationalist. The novel itself was fashionable but not respected, as a woman wrote it. Jane Austen’s main characters are Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, both of which are very similar and fail to realise this, they are proud, ironic and judgmental, a perfect match? Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are introduced to the reader in the first few chapters, their introduction and their opinions towards each other are very particular, in this essay I am analysing how Jane Austen introduces the reader to Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in the opening scenes. Elizabeth is one of five Bennet sisters unlike many main characters Elizabeth isn’t the prettiest, but she is witty and intelligent: the result is that the reader doesn’t expect Elizabeth to be the novels heroine, as is doesn’t possess the Disney fairytale qualities. Mr. Darcy is first portrayed through indirect speech as a handsome and rich gentleman who is destined to marry, that is until the reader meets Mr. Darcy, the reader is deceived into thinking Mr. Darcy is a pompous rich over-proud gentlemen, as they mold prejudice opinions towards him. The 18th century and today’s era vary in similarity as women and men still marry and some women are deemed as housewives. Jane Austen’s has radical ideas for both time elapses; as it is portrayed that women are normally in need of rescue from a handsome prince, but in Austen’s novel Elizabeth Bennet isn’t like that,